Entrepreneur Profile: John Butcherine

Thirty-one-year-old John Butcherine tends to move with light speed. He started Home Loan Consultants Inc., San Diego's second largest mortgage brokerage, when he was 26 years old.

"I'm unique in that perspective," he said. "Most people didn't start thinking about (starting their own mortgage

When he was 23, Wells Fargo named Butcherine a branch manager. For the next three years, Butcherine watched as older, though not necessarily more successful, colleagues got promoted but he didn't.

The move to start his own brokerage was a risk, Butcherine said, but it has paid off - his company reported $15 million in revenue in 2006.

While Butcherine still gets surprised looks from new investors when he meets them for the first time, he believes that his age is an advantage - especially among employees.

"I'm able to hire highly motivated loan officers," Butcherine said. "They can talk to me."

He adds that his employees can recognize the success Butcherine had a young and know they can learn from him. "They see me out downtown and I can have a drink with them."